Typewriter



Dec. 22, 1931. c. w. CRUMRINE 1,337,893

' TYPEWRITER Filed my 25, 1929 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 Hmwexmftqnr cmimw c Patented Dec. 22, 1931 UNITED STATES CHESTER W. CRUMRINE OF ROCHESTER, JNE'W YORK, .ASSIGNOR TO ELECTROMATIO PATENT OF-FI'CF.

TYPEWRITERS, INCL, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK TYIEW'RITEB Application filed July 25,

This invention relates to the stop mechanism used to control and to limit the traversing movements of the carriage of a typewriting machine. Such mechanism usually performs three functions: It limits the extreme normal movements of the carriage, for the purpose of preserving the desired margins; it assists in tabulating, being operated to release the carriage and then to arrest it automatically in a predetermined intermediate position; and it acts to limit rebound of the carriage when arrested in the performance of the tabulating operation' I The general object of the invention is to produce a typewriter in which some or all of these functions are performed by simple mechanism, in a reliable manner, and with provision for absorbing the shock produced by the impact of the stop members. More specifically one object is to reduce the number of parts required for the performance of the several functions just mentioned, and to this end it is proposed to use a single stationary stop member, preferably in the form of a lever, which is adaptedto cooperate both with the margin stops and with the tabular stops carried by the carriage, and which is mounted for movement in several directions, so that it may be thrown into and out of the path of Y each of these stops, and also, preferably, so

that it may yield, under the control of buffer mechanism, to absorb the shockof impact.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for checking rebound of the carriage from the tabular stop. Tabular stops may be arranged to operate in either of two well known ways. The more usual arrangement is to have the stationary stop member moved into the path of the stop on the carriage, and then held there, by means of the tabular key until the carriage has been arrested, the key then being released by the operator. In this arrangement the rebound check may be a simple latch, mounted on the stationary stop member and moved into and out of operative position therewith.

The other mode of operation is that in which the stationary stop member, when moved to working position, is held there by means of a detent of some sort, until it is 1929. Serial No. 881,016.

struck by the carriage stop, whereupon it is recoil of the stop, after it has arrested the carriage, causes withdrawal of the rebound check also, before the rebound of the carriage can be arrested.

In accordance with the present invention the second described mode of operation of the tabular stop is used, and the difficulty in the matter of the rebound check is removed by supporting the check not upon the stop but upon the'frame of the machine, and by so co-ordinating the rebound check and the stationary' stop that the check is maintained in operative position until the stop has returned fully to normal position. In this manner the time during which the check is effective is lengthened sufficiently to insure its correct operation.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of the parts of a typewriting machine particularly embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fi 3 is a detail plan view, showing particular y the mode of operation of the rebound check, with the parts in a different position from that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, looking from right to left with respect to Fig. 1.

is a detail side elevation of the mechanism for imparting swinging movements to the stop lever, and Fig. 6 is a detail plan view, showing particularly the carriage-escapement mechanism.

The drawings are fragmentary in character, showing only so much of the machine, in general, as is nccessary'for an'understanding of the invention, and it may be assumed that the machine is of any ordinary or suit- Fig. 5

' and providing bearings for the support and ill guide of the base member 13 of the carriage. This member is provided, in the usual manner, with end plates 14, of which only one is shown, serving for the support of the platen 15, and of the bars 16 and 17 which support the adjustable carriage stops. The bar 16 carries the margin stops 18 and 19, while the bar 17 carries any required number of tabular stops 20.

The carriage is shown as provided with escapement mechanism which is somewhat novei in form, but which constitutes no part of the present invention, this mechanism being shown merely to indicate its necessary interconnection with the tabular-stop mechanism. The escapement mechanism comprises a rack 21, fixed to the bottom of the carriage and having teeth which are spaced at a distance equal to twice the length of a single carriage-feeding movement. Two pawls 22 cooperate with this rack, and are arranged to be released alternately by means of a lever 23, carried by a stationary pivot 24 and actuated by a rod 25. This rod may be connected with any of the usual means for operating the escapement, such, for example, as a space key and a universal. The escapement mechanism need not be further described, except to point out that the pawls are mounted on a pivot 26, so that they may both be swung simultaneously out of engagement with the rack to release the carriage.

A member in the use of which the present invention largerly resides is shown as having the form of a lever 27, which is connected,

'by a pivot 28, with the upper end of a second lever 29. This second lever is hereinafter referred to as the buffer lever. The lever 27, hereinafter called the stop lever or stop member, is arranged to cooperate both with the margin stops and with the tabular stops, and to be swung in the directions necessary to throw into and out of the paths of these stops. The bullet lever 29 is mounted on a pivot 30, supported in stationary position. In order to introduce a slight degree of yield pr spring to such support, the pivot is fixed in a member 31 of goose-neck form, of which one end is fastened rigidly to the rail 10 by means of a screw 32, while the other end is left free to move slightly, in consequence of springing in the metal. The pivot 30 is surrounded by a spring 33, which bears against the buffer lever, and this arrangement permits the lever not only to swing about the horizontal axis of the pivot, but also to have a slight rocking movement around a vertical axis. The spring tends, however, to press the lever flat against the face of the gooseneck 31, so as to resist the last mentioned movement and to return the lever to normal position when released.

The rocking of the buffer lever about the axis of the pivot 30 permits the stop lever to yield in a lengthwise direction, when struck by any of the carriage stops, so that the shock of impact may be reduced, and means are provided for cushioning this swinging movement, and for returning the lever to, and normally holding it in, its intermediate vertical position. For this purpose a spring 34: connects the lower end of the buffer lever with a pin directly beneath it, on a member 35 of the frame of the machine, and the downward pull of the spring tends to hold the lever in the position shown in Fig. 1. The buffer lever is also provided with two lateral lugs 36, which cooperate with cushions 37 carried by a bracket 38, which is also mounted on the frame member 35. The cushions 37 may be made of any material sufliciently yielding to avoid noise when struck by the lugs 36, and they serve to limit the movements of the bufi'er lever.

The stop lever 27 is provided, at its left hand end, with a horizontal lug 39, which lies normally in the path of movement of the margin stops 18 and 19. It is provided also with a vertical lug 40, adapted to cooperate with the tabular stops 20, but lying normally in front of the path of movement of these stops, so as not to interfere with the normal carriage-feeding movements. By the several swinging movements possible to the stop lever, however, the lug 39 may be thrown out of the path of the margin stops when a margin-releasing operation is desired, or the lug 40 may be thrown into the path of the tabular stops when a tabulating operation is de sired. a

The right-handend of the stop lever extends rearwardly and downwardly, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, and is provided with an elongated opening 41, which is engaged by the upper end of a trip lever 42. This lever is connected, at its lower end, by means of a pivot 43, with a bell-crank lever A, and the latter lever is pivoted at 45 on a bracket 46, fixed to the bottom of the rail 10. This same bracket is conveniently used also for the support of the pivot stud 24, hereinbefore refered to. The hole 41 is of such length that the lever 42 does not interfere with the lengthwise yielding movement of the stop lever, but by rocking movements of the levers l2 and 44 the stop lever may be swung either vertically or horizontally. In order to swing it horizontally the lever 42 is swung forwardly upon its pivot 43, and for this purpose it is connected, by means of a link 47, with any means, such as the usual tabular key of the typewriter, for so swinging it. It is returned to and held in the normal position shown in Fig.

5, however, by means of a spring 49, connecting it with the bracket 46.

j T A horizontal swinging movement of the stop lever, just described, is that which throws its lug 40 into thepath of the tabular stops 20.

This movement of the stop lever is opposed by the spring 33, however, so that'when the lever 42 is returned to normal position the stop lever tends to return to the normal position shown in Fig. 2. l

The vertical swinging movement of the stop lever, about the pivot 28, is produced by rocking t he bell-crank lever 44 upon its pivot 45 in a clockwise direction, soas to raise the lever 42 bodily, and thus raise the right-hand end and lower the left-hand end of the stop lever.; This movement carries the lug 39 on the stop leverdownwardly, out of the path of the margin stops. The movement in quesby tripping the esca tion is caused b a thrust rod 48 engaging the lower arm of t e lever'44, and it will be understood that this rod may be actuated by any means, manual or otherwise, for the purpose of producing a margin release. T he spring 49 acts also to return the levers 42 and 44 to normal positionafter a margin-release opera- I tion, and thus to return the stop lever to the stop lever, and it has IStlSO a portion 53 depending in the rear of the rail and integral with a portion 54, which extends under the ment pawls.

rail and is provided with a finger 55 which extends downwardly in the rear of the escape- When the stop lever is swung for a tabular-stop operation it presses against the finger 52, thus swinging the trip lever and causing the finger 55 to push the pawls out of engagement with the rack 21 and thus release the carriage. The carriage will then be advan'ced by the means usually employed for that purpose, such, for example,as the usual spring drum and tape.

When the carriage is released as aforesaid it will be brought to rest by the engagement of one of the tabular stops 20' with the lug 40 on the stop lever, and the shock of this engagement will cause the stop lever to move lengthwise, and thus to rock the buffer lever into engagement with one of the cushions 37. The spring 34 will then return the buffer lever and the stop lever. In order that it may not be necessary for the user of the machine to maintain pressure upon the tabularstop key until these operations have been completed, means are provided for retaining the stop lever in tabulati'ng position until the necessary movements have been completed. For this purpose a detent 56 is mounted on a pivot 57 on the top of the rail 10. This detent has three arms 58, 59 and 60, and it is controlled by a spring 62, of which one end engages the detent while the other end rests against a pin 61 on the rail 10. The arm cooperates with the same pin to limit the movement of the detent in one direction. The arm 58 cooperates with a lug 64 depending from the stop'lever. In the normal posi tion of the parts, as shown in Fig. 2, the lug 64 rests against the side of the arm 58, thus holding thedetent in a position in which the arm 60 is out of engagement with the pin 61. When the stop lever is swung to throw the lug 40 into the path of the tabular stops, however, the lug 64 swings clear of the end of the arm 58, whereupon the spring '62jrocks the detent in a direction to bring the end of the arm 58 in front of the lug tion until it is struck by the tabular stop. When this occurs the endwise yielding movement ofthe stop lever moves the lug 64 to the right of the arm 58, as shown in Fig. 3, thus causingthe lever to be released from the detent, so that the spring 33 may rock it back to normal position. Fig. 3 shows the parts in.

an intermediate position, just after such release but before the return of the stop lever.

The rebound check, by which the carriage is prevented from rebounding to an undesired extent after it has been arrested in a tabulating operation, has the form of a latch 63 pivoted, at 65, on the frame of the machine and rovided with a beveled nose 66 which lies 1n the path of movement, of the tabular stops. A spring 69 normally holds the latch in this position, but the latch may normally be swung therefrom without substantial resistance to, permit the tabular stops to pass freely in either direction. Conse- 64. The detent then retains the stop lever in tabulating posiquently, when one of the tabular stops is in operationit moves past the latch, which immediately swings back into position behind it, and the'tabular stop then engages the lug 40 on the stop lever, as before described. The resulting movement of the detent 56, also before described, brings the arm 59 of the detent into engagement with the latch 63, as shown in Fig. 3, so that upon the slight return movement of the carriage, due to the return of the buffer lever 29 to normal position,

and the consequent recoil of the stop lever, I the tabular stop engages and is arrested by the latch, since at this moment the latch is not free to swing. While these operations are taking place, however, the stop lever, having been released from the arm 58 of the detent, has already begun to swing back tonormal position, so that immediately after the action of the rebound check the lug 64, pushing against the side of the arm 58, swings the detent back to the position of Fig. 2, thus I releasing the latch 63, and the parts are then all again in normal position and condition.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a typewriter, the combination, with a carriage provided with a margin stop and a tabular stop, of a stop lever adapted to cooperate, at one end, with each of said stops, means supporting said lever in a position substantially parallel with the length of the carriage and with freedom for pivotal motion in two planes, and means for swinging the stop lever in one of said planes, to throw it into or out of the path of one of said stops,

and for swinging it in the other of said planes,

to throw it into or out of the path of the other of said stops.

2. In a typewriter, the combination with a carriage, margin and tabular stops thereon, of a stop member pivotally mounted on a fixed part for movement into and out of the path of each of said stops and for yielding bodily in the direction of movement of the carriage, bufi'er means for limiting said yielding movement, and. hey controlled means for moving the stop member on its pivot.

3. In a typewriter, the combination, with a carriage provided with a margin stop and a tabular stop, of a stop member having portions adapted to cooperate with each of said stops, means supporting the stop member movably, and means for moving the stop member to shift one of said portions vertically into and out of the path of one of said stops and for moving it in another plane to shift the other of said portions into and out of the path of the other stop.

4.. In a typewriter, the combination, with a carriage provided with a margin stop and a tabular stop, of a stop lever provided, adjacent one end, with a vertical lug to cooperate with one of said stops and a horizontal lug to cooperate with the other stop, and

-means for supporting the stop lever in a position parallel with the direction of movement of the carriage and for swinging said. end thereof both vertically and horizontally to move said lugs, respectively, into and out of the paths ofthe corresponding stops.

. 5. In a typewriter, the combination with a carriage, margin and tabular stops thereon, of a buffer lever pivoted on the frame, resilient means for retaining said bufi'er lever normally in .an intermediate position, buffer means cooperating with said lever for limiting its movement in opposite directions,

.a stop lever pivoted on the buffer lever, separate means on one end of said lever for cooperation with the margin and tabular stops, and means engaging the other end of said lever for swinging it into and out of the path of each of said sto s. I

6. In .a typewriter, t e combination, with a carriage provided with a margin stop and a tabular stop, of a buffer lever lying in a vertical plane, a support, for said lever, upon which it is pivoted between its ends, the pivotal support affording freedom for a partial rotation of the lever about axes both normal. to and lying in said plane, a stop lever pivoted, at an intermediate point, upon one arm. oli the buffer lever and formed, at one end, for cooperation with each of said stops, buh 'er means attached to another arm of the boiler lever, and means, engaging the other end oi the stop lever, for swinging it in a vertical. plane and in a horizontal plane to throw its first-mentioned end into and out of the paths of the respective stops.

7. In a typewriter, the combination, with a carriage provided with a margin stop and. a tabular stop, of a stop lever pivotally mounted to swing, in oneplane, into and out of the path of one of said stops and to swing, in another plane, into and out of the path of the other stop, and means, for so swinging the stop lever, comprising a first shifting lever of which one end engages the stop lever, a second shifting lever on which the first shifting lever is pivoted, means for rocking the first shifting lever upon its pivot to swing; the stop lever in one plane, and means for rocking the second shifting lever to impartlengthwise movement to the first shiftin lever and thus swing the stop lever in the other of its lanes of movement.

8. typewriting machine, as set forth in claim 7, in which the pivotal support for the stop lever is movable in the direction of the length of the stop lever, and which comprises, further, buffer means for resisting and limiting lengthwise movement of thestop lever.

9. In a typewriter, the combination, with a carriage provided with a tabular stop, of

a stop member movable into and out of the path of saidstop, spring means tending to move it out of said path, a rebound check movably mounted adjacent .said path and having a portion normally lying therein but yieldable to permit free passage of the stop in either direction, a spring-controlled detent cooperative with both the stop member and the rebound check, the detent tending to move, when the stop member is thrown into the path of the stop, into position to retain the stop member in said path, and to lock the rebound 'check against yielding to return movement of the stop, and resilient means supporting the stop member with freedom fora limited yielding movement when struck by the stop, such yielding movement causing the stop member to release itself from the detent and return to position out of the path of the stop, and the stop member and the detent having cooperating portions by which such return of the stop member moves and also in a direction to yield under the impact of the stop and spring means tending to return the sto member from such yielding movementand a so to move it out of the path' of the stop, of a rebound check, also cooperative with said stop, movably supported inde-' pendently of the stationary stop member, but operatively interconnected therewith by means such that the stop member, when moved into the path of the stop, is retained therein by said means until released in consequence of its said yielding movement, while the rebound check is cooperative with the stop to limit return movement'of the stop while the stop member is in the path of the stop, but is disabled by said means upon and in consequence of the returnof the stop mem- I her to its position out of the path of the stop. 11. In a typewriter, the combination with a frame, a carriage movable thereon, of tabular stops on the carriage, escapement devices comprlsing a rack and a pawl cooperating therewith, a stop member pivoted on the frame and normally arranged in the direction in which the carriage moves, means for moving the stop member about a vertical axis into the path of the tabular stop, and a lever arranged in the path of the stop member and adapted to be moved thereby into engagement with said pawl to move the pawl out of engagement with the rack to render the escapement devices inoperative.

CHESTER W. CRUMRINE. 

